USM Valor
The USM ''Valor'' was a Destroyer class vessel in the Earth Defense Force Navy and was captained by Commander F. Cadigan. A fifth the size of the [[USG Ishimura|USG Ishimura]], the Valor possessed enough firepower to easily destroy a ship of the Ishimura's size. Service Record The Second Aegis 7 Incident The Valor is first mentioned after Isaac Clarke managed to realign the communications array of the Ishimura. The Destroyer was in the system, and was able to pick up the Ishimura's distress signal. In their broadcast to the Ishimura, the comms operator of the Valor mentioned picking up one of the Ishimura's escape pods. This pod was jettisoned with a Necromorph aboard, which, despite the valiant fight of the Marines aboard, eventually led to the Valor crashing into the Ishimura. The Valor was encountered by Isaac Clarke after he killed The Slug (which was blocking the comms array blast doors) with the armament of a Cannon Pit. Isaac was unable to avert the crash with ADS Cannon 48. The Valor held a barracks, an infirmary, a firing range and engine room, and was dotted with numerous propaganda posters. It also had a singularity core that was completely compatible with the Ishimura's shuttles and the same weapons, ammo, RIGs and lockers. Isaac is unable to avert the crash with ADS Cannon 48, no matter how much he fires upon the USM Valor. Isaac boarded the Valor to retrieve a singularity core to power a shuttle to escape; unfortunately, in the process of doing so (which involved fighting through numerous Necromorphs, including a newly introduced variety called Twitchers), Zach Hammond was killed by an Enhanced Brute, and the Valor's engine destabilized and exploded due to the removal of the singularity core and a catastrophic failure of fuel containment, causing substantial damage to the Ishimura. However, the singularity core was successfully retrieved by Isaac despite the damage its removal caused, giving him, Kendra, and Dr. Terrence Kyne a chance to escape via a surviving emergency shuttle. Internal Structure Armory A large, long room containing a Bench and several long weapons lockers containing Pulse Rifles and ammunition. Though the Valor seemed to only stock Pulse Rifles, it is possible that the lockers could contain other ordnance such as the Divet and supplies like Stasis Packs. There is a locked door on the far side of the Armory that could likely have led to the workshop. A small subsection of the area contained the Shooting Gallery activity area. Shooting Gallery The Shooting Gallery is a subsection of the Valor's Armory where off-duty Marines could practice their accuracy and shooting skills on holographic human-sized targets. Hitting all of the red targets and none of the blue targets earned the player points; the amount of total points possible to score increased with each level. If the shooter was able to hit all red targets without any "friendly fire", he was rewarded with a useful item, such as ammunition, med packs, Semiconductors, and on the fifth level, a Power Node. Barracks A long room (among the longest in the ship) lined with personnel bunks on both sides where the Valor's Marines and custodial crew slept. The personnel bunks were slightly smaller than the crew bunks on the Ishimura, but appeared to have drawers and cabinets on the walls for storing personal items. In between the two rows of bunks were walkpaths and columns with supply cabinets and E.D.F. propaganda posters. On the far side of the barracks was a store for the soldiers to use and a ship administrations office. The bunks were festooned with touches such as notes, letters, and photos. Presumably before the Second Aegis Incident, the barracks were likely the center of the ship, where Marines could converse and socialize. By the time Isaac Clarke reached the Barracks, they were swarmed with waves of Twitchers, Lurkers, Exploders and Leapers. Clarke was successful in expunging the infestation. Cargo Bay The storehouse of the Valor, likely somewhere in the center or back end of the Destroyer. It was the storage center for the ship and its Marine and custodial complement, and supplies of water, fuel, ammunition, field rations, weapons, oxygen supplies, Stasis Packs, medical supplies, and possibly other objects such as landing craft, Lancet missiles, and mass driver rounds. Engine Room A very large two-level room containing the Valor's medium size ShockPoint Drive. It was divided into two sections: the first was the Drive Deck, a dangerous level that was dominated by the ship's ShockPoint Drive and Engine Reflux Tubes. The second level was the Engine Room proper, where the ship's propulsion systems functioned; the singularity core was contained here behind a shield, which Clarke deactivated to gain access to the component. The Engine Room would be the epicenter of the Valor's destruction when the core was removed. Infirmary The Infirmary was a medium sized cabin used as the sickbay and operating room for the Marines and other personnel. It was equipped with multiple patient beds, scanning and medical equipment, and a variety of surgical tools, most notably a large laser cutter/cauterizing device that had malfunctioned causing it to spin erratically and cut down anything that came within reach. Interestingly, this room was relatively devoid of Med Packs. Torpedo Room The Torpedo Room was the armament storage and deployment center for the Valor, ''and was in ruins when Isaac Clarke entered it. Nicole Brennan appeared on a vidscreeen in the room, a possible hallucination of Clarke's.' Armaments The Valor was armed with a complement of nuclear missiles, one of which broke open when the Valor crashed into the Ishimura. Due to a safety lock engaging because of the radiation hazard this posed, Clarke had to dispose of the nuclear debris before he could enter via one of the Valor's airlocks. The ship also possessed several ship-to-ship cannons, militarised versions of the Ishimura's ADS Mass Driver system. In addition to the armaments of the ship itself, the Marines aboard the Valor had access to a wide variety of military-grade versions of the standard tools located aboard the USG Ishimura and on Aegis VII. Given the presence of C.E.C.-branded containers aboard the USM Valor and ammunition for Isaac's arsenal, it was entirely plausible that the C.E.C. was a defense contractor, providing weaponized versions of its standard mining tools for military use; or alternatively, that the Valor had such tools aboard as part of its ship-boarding procedures. The main armory was also fully stocked with racks of the SWS Motorised Pulse Rifle, although these were not accessible to Isaac. Many of the weapon ports were already open, seemingly ready to fire, which could support the idea of the Valor being sent in to destroy the infected Ishimura. The Valor may have been sent in to assess the situation, and then likely to destroy the Ishimura and the colony if it was beyond saving. Marine Complement The Marines aboard were transformed into Necromorphs, although Isaac Clarke did encounter 3 non-infected Marines, one who died shortly after he was encountered; one who was pinned to the ceiling by a damaged gravity panel; and one Marine who escaped through a hatch to an unknown fate. Because the Marines had stasis modules in their Advanced Soldier RIGs, they were able to move many times the speed of normal Necromorphs, and were referred to as Twitchers. The Marines also carried Pulse Rifles, but the Twitchers did not make use of these. Trivia *The Valor, along with the Ishimura's Ore Storage Deck, is where Chapter 9: Dead on Arrival of Dead Space takes place. *The Valor's destruction is never shown on screen, leading to the possibility that it was never destroyed at all. *The USM logo seen throughout the ship includes the Han character 天 (Chinese: tiān, Japanese: ten, ame, ama, Korean: cheon), meaning "heaven" or "sky". *The Valor's ship symbol resembles a Chinese Dragon, and could relate to the Han characters around the ship. *The Valor's logo is seen on the left chest plate of the Advanced Soldier RIG. *While the "US" in "USM" is still unclear, the M may stand for Military, as the civilian ships Ishimura and USG Kellion are both named "USG". Many fans have come to belive USM stands for U'nited '''S'pace 'M'arines or 'M'ilitary, or possibly 'U'nited 'S'ystems 'M'arines or 'M'ilitary, 'but this is still unclear. *The logo of the ''USM Valor can first be seen in Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion, on a book labeled "Field Medicine" in a laboratory. *Its possible that the Valor's logo is simply the USM's logo, as containers aboard the Ishimura have the CEC symbol. *The vessel's Singularity Core, shaped like an inverted Flux Capacitor, might possibly be a developer's in-joke. *Strangely, some Unitologist Grafitti can be seen aboard the Valor, reinforcing the theory that Isaac may be hallucinating some, or even all of these writings. It could also reinforce the potential for Unitologists among the crew. *It is possible that the Valor was supposed to support Kendra Daniels on her mission, which would also support the theory that she was an EDF operative. This also explains why they stopped to pick up an escape pod, rather than simply destroying it, and why she remarked that she should thank Isaac for "finding the marker without help from the Valor." *The collision with the Ishimura might have been a last ditch attempt to destroy the ship with its Necromorph infestation, as the ship's crew had been decimated by the Necromorphs and were possibly attempting to fulfill their primary objective at all costs. *If, while in the ADS Cannon 48, Isaac shoots at the incoming Valor, it will dispatch several yellow reflections, starting from the shot's point and propagating through the entire ship's hull. This indicates the presence of a defense shield for vessel-to-vessel combat. *The Valor's fate is currently unknown. It is presumed that, if intact, it was recovered alongside the Ishimura, prior to the events of Dead Space 2. Gallery File:ShipComparison.jpg|Size comparison between the USG Ishimura, the USG Kellion, and the USM Valor(pre-release screenshot) File:Untitled543254.jpg|USM Valor's damaged warhead. File:-2052588406.jpg|The Valor's singularity core. File:Valorduderiglink.png|Valor crewmember talking via Isaac's RIGlink. Sources Valor